Will writers need to become media producers to survive?

My cousin is a musician. He’s worked his entire professional life amidst notes; touring with a successful band for years, producing several fantastic CDs and teaching. When iTunes slammed into the planet and made music digital and cheap he was angry.

“Too bad, cuz,” I’d say. “You know what they say. Adapt or die!”

Okay, I didn’t say it like that, but it’s the message that he probably took away from our debates.

Then Spotify and its ilk pushed music even further into the ether. Songs became not just a commodity, but a common element. Like air, except louder and with a riff.

Poor music business.

But what if indy authors have more in common with our musical peers than we think? What if the proliferation of subscription services is sending us down a path of permanently earning less for our books.

I’m an optimist. I believe that the writing life is a wonderful life. I know it’s here to stay. But it may need to change into something different.

Musicians have concerts. Gigs can add some cash to the coffer as music sales drop through the stage. At gigs, bands sell CDs (and LPs!) to the audience.

But writers have nothing similar. Book readings are the closest thing, but they’re not as essential to the reader as live music is to the music fan.

So are we doomed to just maneuver the same turbulent sea of shifting tactics to survive Amazon’s whims, or Facebook’s changing policies, or a tiered Internet?

Believe it or not, I’m going somewhere positive with all of this.

What if writers need to produce their work to find that alternate revenue stream? Produce our work? What the hell does that mean, Ben? Well, what if I need to make The Camelot Kids a comic book and a weekly animated short for it to make me money? What if Shirley Link is a monthly podcast and a small indy film? Maybe your book is a future YouTube hit? What I’m searching for here is that secondary revenue stream that leverages the wonderful book we’ve written and builds upon it for a modern audience.

Does that makes sense? I mean, we tell stories. On paper. On touchscreens. But maybe we need to ponder other ways to tell our stories.

Maybe we need to tap into these social network thingies and find audio recording, film making, 3D animating peers who will work for a cut of the profits.

As importantly, maybe new services need to spring up that help us make our books into animated movies, or plays, or films, or games, or virtual reality experiences. Yes, there’s ACX. There are fun toys like Booktrack. Those are along the lines of what I’m talking about, but what I’m starting to see is that I need to break out of my comfort zone (even more than I already have). I’m starting to see that the same way that musicians had to learn to set up a gig, perform and connect with music fans in a whole new way, well maybe in some twisted, introverted wordish way that’s our future, too.

What do you think? Could you envision writers as media producers? Do you think a successful indy author will need to be a successful media producer in the near future? Is the thought too terrifying to ponder? Or does it excite you?

2 Comments

Rebecca Douglass
on January 23, 2015 at 9:42 pm

I think I vote for terrifying, Ben! But I fear you have an excellent point.

HA! Yeah part of it terrifies me too. Mind you, I’m coming at the whole topic as someone with a history in media (Film, TV, Games, Books) so I’m prone to thinking about this stuff. But when everyone is trying to figure out how to zig (Amazon this-n-that, Facebook that-n-the-other-thing) then maybe we should zag (virtual reality books, simple 3D animated shorts, co-op audiobook bundles with multiple authors). The point here is this: the stories we tell can and should remain on the page. BUT, where it makes sense we should ponder expanding the story in ways that leverage the astonishing tech of today.